The Deepest Affection in Qin's Time

"When Confucius said, 'To attack heresies is harmful,' he did not mean to prohibit different doctrines, but rather to warn people against being biased towards one extreme and blinding themselves to the truth..."

Cao Yuan focused his energy in his dantian and expressed his views in a semi-classical, semi-vernacular style.

With the foundation of argumentative essays built from eight hundred essays written in high school in his later years, coupled with his experience in the civil service examination and his knowledge from his later years, even if his answers were not particularly brilliant, they would not be inferior.

"...Upholding the middle way without being closed off, accommodating different opinions without blindly following them; distinguishing right from wrong with reason, not suppressing dissenting views with power; hence it is said: heresy lies in bias, not in difference; the key to attack lies in self-discipline, not in tolerance of others. Upholding the middle way to respond to all changes, this is the original intention of the Master."

Cao Yuan said, "Please enlighten me, Master Fu Nian."

Fu Nian nodded, looking at Cao Yuan with admiration in his eyes, and said, "Jia, go ahead."

At that moment, he no longer had any doubts about Cao Yuan's scholarship.

Perhaps Cao Yuan was the one my teacher spoke of who was born with knowledge, a person born with great wisdom.

Cao Yuan felt a slight sense of relief and said with a faint smile, "Does Master Fu Nian still have any doubts?"

Fu Nian's expression turned solemn, and he bowed with his hands clasped, saying, "May I ask who Master Cao Yuan studied under? What is his name? I wish to study under him; is that permissible?"

A glimpse of the whole picture through a tube.

Even though Cao Yuan only wrote half of the article discussing "Human Nature is Good and Human Nature is Evil", he still saw the core of what he was talking about. It was not about "good" or "evil", nor was it about "nature", but about "principle", or more precisely, "heavenly principle".

This almost perfectly coincided with his previous thoughts and ideas.

Therefore, he was not worshipping Cao Yuan, but rather the teacher behind Cao Yuan.

Cao Yuan's mind raced, and he said, "My master's surname is Wang (online) and his given name is You. I was originally an orphan and was adopted by my master when I was young, and I studied with my fellow disciples. A few months ago, my master said that he was going to travel thousands of miles with his fellow disciples, and suddenly threw me off a hillside. Fortunately, I was rescued by Zihan and raised by Meng Jiang, otherwise my life would have been uncertain."

After saying a lot, Cao Yuan got to the point: "So, I'm sorry to disappoint Master Fu Nian, but I don't know how to find my master now."

Zihan suddenly exclaimed, "No wonder it was such a coincidence! It turns out it was your teacher, Wang You, who did it!"

He knew it! How could it be such a coincidence!

He was riding his horse and singing a little tune when a person fell from the sky and landed squarely on his horse!

“Wang You…” Fu Nian memorized the name.

He felt that this Wang You was very likely a learned senior scholar of Confucianism, and he decided to go back and ask his Uncle Xun.

"Mr. Cao Yuan mentioned having fellow disciples. Could you please tell me their names?"

Fu Nian asked one more question to see if the range could be narrowed down.

Although Confucianism is a prominent school of thought, there are not many great Confucian scholars among the eight schools. Even if he is not familiar with it, he should have heard of it.

"The eldest brother's surname is Zhu, his given name is Xi, and his courtesy name is Yuanhui. He is good at the study of 'Neo-Confucianism' and practices the way of 'preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires';

The second senior brother took his master's surname, Wang, and was named Shouren, also known as Master Yangming. He attained enlightenment in Longchang, founded the "philosophy of mind," and advocated the principle of "unity of knowledge and action."

Cao Yuan continued to fabricate stories without batting an eye, feeling that his path was becoming wider and wider.

"The School of Principle... The School of Mind..."

Fu Nian believed Cao Yuan's account, as it included names and detailed information, to about 70% of the truth.

He looked at Wuming, "Do you know him, Senior Brother?"

Wuming shook his head. "I don't know him. Perhaps the teacher knows something about him."

He was puzzled.

He had never heard of any of Wang You, Zhu Xi, or Wang Shouren.

Such a talented scholar, if he had ever shown his face in the Seven Kingdoms, would surely have made a name for himself.

Fu Nian was slightly disappointed and glanced at the sky.

"If I had known I would meet Mr. Cao Yuan today, I would have made an appointment with my uncle three days longer. What a pity!"

He bowed solemnly to Cao Yuan and said, "I wonder if Mr. Cao Yuan would like to write the rest of the chapter now, as I need to return to Sanghai Manor today."

He always follows the rules; if he sets a travel date for three days, he stays for three days.

Cao Yuan said he was very happy, and that he had been waiting for this moment.

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just a matter of pen and ink..."

Wuming spoke up at the opportune moment: "I have some here."

He paused for a moment, then said to the wooden house, "Yan Lu, bring some writing brushes and ink, and come out to greet the guests."

After a dozen or so breaths, a child slowly walked out of the wooden house.

The child held the pen, ink, and cloth, his eyes red and dry, lacking their usual sparkle and liveliness.

“Master, Master Fu Nian, Boss Cao, Teacher Zi Han…”

Yan Lu was no longer as lively as before; she was very quiet, obedient, and so well-behaved that it broke my heart.

Cao Yuan and Zi Han both remained silent.

Cao Yuan glanced at Wuming and Fu Nian, and pondered, "Yan Lu, do you still remember what I taught you?"

Yan Lu looked at Cao Yuan with a puzzled expression.

Cao Yuan said meaningfully, "Confucius said: 'The wise find pleasure in water, the benevolent find pleasure in mountains.' Do not be burdened by hatred; learn benevolence and propriety, win people over with virtue, and teach them with reason."

Fu Nian and Wu Ming nodded slightly; Cao Yuan's words were in line with the essence of Confucianism.

Zihan, on the other hand, looked strange, and Cao Yuan's quotes from "Lunyu" suddenly popped into her mind.

The saying "The wise find joy in water, the benevolent find joy in mountains" means that those skilled in martial arts enjoy using their strength to cut through flowing water, while virtuous martial artists enjoy using their bare hands to clear mountains for exercise.

As for benevolence and propriety, as well as winning people over with virtue and teaching people with reason, the left fist represents "benevolence," the right fist represents "propriety," the sword represents "virtue," and the bow represents "reason." Only in this way can one win people over with virtue and teach people with reason.

Yan Lu paused for a moment, the confusion in his eyes gradually faded, and a strange brilliance appeared.

"Boss Cao, Yan Lu understands!"

He quoted from the Book of Rites, saying earnestly, "If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening!"

Fu Nian was somewhat confused.

Wuming, on the other hand, had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

He thought of Yan Lu's statement that Cao Yuan had taught him the Analects. Could this be related to that?

Zihan covered her face.

The saying "If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening" means that if you find out the way to your house in the morning, you can just wait to die in the evening.

Is Yan Lu finally determined to take revenge?

Cao Yuan smiled with satisfaction.

“Young man, you are teachable.”

……

Chapter 9: The entire text astonishes the great Confucian scholar.

The clouds are light and the breeze is gentle; the sky is clear and the air is fresh.

The backyard of the "Golden Key" locksmith shop.

A slender beauty, dressed in a blue and yellow dress, stood quietly under the tree.

She was tall and slender, with an exceptionally beautiful face. She was naturally beautiful, with skin as smooth as jade, more beautiful than peach blossoms, white with a rosy glow, and her skin was crystal clear, like the bright moon in the sky, making her appear otherworldly and independent.

Li Wu, who had followed Cao Yuan back, now quietly returned to the courtyard, carrying her shiny black cat.

"Cao Yuan and Zi Han entered the nameless mansion, and Fu Nian, the acting head of Xiaoshengxianzhuang, was also among them."

Jingni listened to Li Wu's report and asked, "What did they say?"

Li Wu shook her head and said, "My strength is low, so I didn't hear it. But judging from the expressions of Wuming and Fu Nian, they seem to value Cao Yuan very much."

A strange light flashed in Jingni's beautiful eyes, and she suddenly said to Li Wu, "Let's go find Cao Yuan."

Li Wu suddenly opened her charming phoenix eyes wide, "Are we going to make a move? How many people do we need to gather?"

According to the intelligence provided by the leader, Wuming's current strength is at the peak of the Grandmaster level. She and Jingni alone are naturally no match for her, even in an assassination attempt.

But the Net never lacks assassins; if one person can't defeat them, then a group of them will!

Jingni said, "No, I'm just going to find him!"

Li Wu suddenly realized and said, "I understand."

They are now Cao Yuan's nominal "wives" and "concubines," so it's perfectly normal for them to find any excuse to visit their husband.

……

An unnamed mansion.

Cao Yuan calmly began writing the remainder of "Human Nature is Good and Human Nature is Evil" on the stone table.

As Zihan looked at it, she shook her head in disbelief. "So it's true that such ugly handwriting can be written by a human."

Cao Yuan glanced at Zi Han and snorted, "Isn't this the essay topic Master Fu Nian gave you? Why don't you write it?"

Zihan chuckled awkwardly, "Brother Cao is joking."

If Cao Yuan's calligraphy was ugly, then his writing was ugly.

They are like the eldest brother and the youngest brother; neither of them should laugh at the other.

Fu Nian always followed the rules, but this time he unusually did not reprimand Master Zihan for his rudeness.

If anyone in their Xiaoshengxianzhuang village could write so badly, he would make them copy the "Guofeng" a hundred times.

"Please excuse my poor handwriting."

Cao Yuan continued writing.

Wuming pondered Cao Yuan's written theory of literature and said, "Words are the application of techniques, literature carries the Way, literature is the body of the Way, the beauty or ugliness of words does not hinder the Way of literature."

Fu Nian deeply agreed, but seeing Cao Yuan still producing ugly characters, he finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Mr. Cao Yuan, how about you dictate and I write it down for you?"

Cao Yuan paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Master Fu Nian."

He couldn't have asked for this more than he could have.